YHSublime

So I have drilled holes big enough to slide the toggles through, they wont go up far enough to latch. I don't know what happens to be above me in that area of the ceiling, but it's as far as the drill would go without hitting something it wasn't going to drill through. I'm renting at the moment, so not trying to play the "let's see what happens game." I'm also on the first floor, there is somebody directly above me, and an HVAC vent in close proximity... if the unit is set up in any logical sense, which it is probably not.

Went to go mount the new it2080 over the 150 tonight, and low and behold, a toggle bolt wont go all the way into the ceiling. Those of you who have seen my tank know I already have the exact same light hung, so you're probably thinking, "that's weird, how'd you do it before?" I wanted to do it clean with the toggle bolt and a plate cover on this one, as I won't have the HVAC drop down running through the ceiling for the new tank in it's current location. Does anybody know where I can find the current kit that I have pictured here, or have alternative solutions? Thanks!

I've heard of this technique being used as well. If it doesn't work, I would probably get rid of the sailfin, sounds like it's more trouble than it's worth. Would like to get some more pics of that tank though!

Yikes

ME. I want to be that guy. I don't know Alan, you did a really nice job yourself, and your patience is going to pay off, your build is looking killer. I wish I had made it. My office had a fire that Friday, and I was busy dealing with insurance and cleanup all weekend. I have his book, the Inception to Completion, is that the one you're referencing? I have browsed through it, but it's next on my list. I have spent a few hours with it already caught up in the pictures alone. Honestly, if I can make it 3 months, it would be a Christmas miracle. It almost makes me want to shed a tear, because 1.) that's SO FAR AWAY and 2.) I'm coming up on my first completed year of reefing. I have to keep reminding myself that my current tank is very young itself, and my builds and threads I'm sure reflect my terrible case of aquatic ADD. Your points are valid, especially because I do have a tank setup and running right now, there is no big rush. I will definitly look into the "European" method of cycling. We are also planning on moving in the next year, so hopefully that will not take a huge toll on the tank. Our plan is to stay within 30 minutes of our current location, so I just forsee a huge amount of rubbermaids, trucks, and vans. I will cross that bridge when I come to it I suppose. I'm hoping to take half my corals off the rock on one half of my 57 (most of my corals are on the racks at the moment anyways...) and take the rock and put it in the sump on the 150. In turn, I want to use that space that I clear to build a temporary frag rack, the corals on the racks are the ones that are thriving. My other issue, which is not huge, is that I plan on using the skimmer on the 57 on the 150, as well as the light, so when I do switch over, it will be a quick all or nothing, or I will run skimmerless for a while on the 150 and move the heartier corals over first. Jack, I don't think anything will suffer tremendously via a close move, although you are good at reminding me that nothing is for certain. I think if the mangroves suspended like in that link, chances of them taking root into the rocks would not pose an issue. Honestly, the mangroves in the sump would be the least of my concerns when moving the tank, peg them up in a container with some styrofoam, and voila! Honestly, once everything gets planned out properly, it may be 3 months by the time I'm ready, I've still got that apex staring at me...

Thanks, I had help keeping it simple! The outside sump was out of necessity, as my other half was opposed to my building a new stand when she loved the 2.5' one I had. The mangroves idea was Brads brilliant idea, and I jumped at the though of anything to get that fake tree out of the way. I am the green thumb in the house, so if it's alive, I'm expected to care for it. Enough about my thread though, this is your build! I don't know how much SW from the beach will help, maybe a little bit? I've always understood it as the water column doesn't house anything close to the rock. IMO a cup of sand would do you better, but this is not based on science, just a gut feeling about something I read somewhere, some time ago, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. I would say 24 hours, just find out whatever paint they are using, and see what the instructions say. I don't think you'd hurt much if you drained it down an 1" or 2" below the box and let that powerhead still run. I would be super careful painting though, that's a cliffhanger of a job trying to not lose a single drop...

+1 I like how clean under your stand is, as well as how it's just as light as above, that will be really nice for working on it Australian style (Get it, Down Under?!) Seriously though, really clean, can't wait to see what you do with the inside of the tank!

Congrats on everything coming together. I just added rock last night, so now I wait with you, although you have a bit of a head start. Tank is looking really nice, I'm jealous of your algae bloom already, I chucked a huge piece of liverock into my sump with a pile of macro that I could care less if it dies or not, either way, it'll hopefully rock the cycle a bit. I can't see a way around the overflow box, any ideas? Cover it with corals?

Bummer man. I'm not 100% sure what you're looking for, but I would suggest not rulling out glass tint, I think you might be able to create something close to what you're looking for. I have a good friend in Richmond that owns a couple of stores, who is always eager to work on intersting projects like this. I can always reach out to him if you would like to consider that route.

I keep them on my overflow, and you have some, somewhere already, Jack!

Haha, no, I'm going to listen to you! Remember how we talked about all that money that went into tanks! Well, I don't want to lose it all in one fell swoop! I'm thinking I'll start my fish list and slowly move over some of the heartier LPS after a cycle, and then see how it goes. I have already started taking live rock out of the 57 and throwing it into the sump, after the cycle, I'll probably get a couple things of tisbee pods to help boost the population for my mandy. Very cool, thanks for sharing. I wish they were bushier, although the supension system he has going on there looks really nice. I'll reach out to some local vendors when I'm ready to get started and see what kind of prices I can hit, otherwise I might try something like this. Goodbye Sunday night. Thanks for the link, I'll be crusing that for a bit.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooh!

Shamless plug! If you read back through all my mad rambling, you'll see the part where I listed I have x2 it2080's, it will be like christmas in there once I'm done.

Yeah, I guess I'm not really sure how big mangroves get. I like the idea, a lot. I'm just wonering how to nicely hang a light over them until I achieve desired results. I'm sure my clamp on par 38 will be fine, it just has a cheap feeling to it. If the sump is going to be out in the open, I'd rather grow things in it and "beautify" it up a bit. I was also wondering how I was going to make it all stick. I think I'll put my skimmer in my first chamber, midle chamber will serve as a "fuge" type area, just jammed with all the live rock from my current display tank. At that stage, it will probably be high enough to just set a home made eggcrate apperatus on top and hopefully the roots will feed into the rock. I wish I did as well. I never even thought about it, was just so eager to get it going. That's really nice! I hate the fake tree. I tell my fiance all the time, but she loves them. It's the hispanic interior designer in her. I can't complain too much, she approved a 150 plus 50 gallon sump taking up half the living room. I feel like I'm on par with seaworld, sans Shamu.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

So been busy. New evergrow is in, and just a lot of planning on how this is going to shift around. I ended up popping the inside of the hood out, so now I've got a box that essentially covers up the top. If you're 6'2, you can see inside if you're up close, and everybody else lower is good to go. Was going to go barebottom, decided that I would like a small layer of substrate. Ended up with fiji pink. Glad I did, 40lbs took care of the exact amount I was looking for, which was enough to just cover the glass. In other news, the 57 now has a new lobo and cynaria. Both are phenominal pieces I scored from ERC. My photo does not do them any justice. At all. They are some of the best looking things in the tank now, imo. Was able to get a good shot of a "mindblowing" paly as they are being called, and my small Rasta colony. Thought I'd share: Oh, and I guess importantly, I've got some aquascaping done. It's hard to get a good picture, because the leds are resting right on the right hand side of the tank, but you can get the jist of what's happening here: A thanks to Brad for coming over and helping me keep this simple. I've got about 30lbs of rock that I would have used leftover if he wasn't here. He also convinced me to wait after my cycle before switching everything over. For fear of losing everything, I will probably heed that advice, and wait at least a month before I start putting LPS in. There is nothing on the right side anyways, just bright lights and shadows.... oh, and the overflow box. My huge monticap/rock is going up against that overflow. This rock will be the only rock that moves from my current DT into this one. I think the rest of my rock will make it's way into the sump. The arch will house all my LPS on the top/right side, and the bottom left of it will house all my zoas. I hope I can get my RBTA to stay on the bottom right of the arch... we will see. The rocks in the middle form a bit of a horseshoe, and I plan on putting the huge open brain in the middle. The surrounding rocks will be used to grow out the different favias I have about, and encrusting montis. There is a plan for everything in the 57. Brad also had a fantastic idea, grow mangroves in the middle of my sump! I think I will probably give it a shot, just need to figure out what kind of light I'll do over it. I'll probably do cheeto as well down in the roots. It would be awesome if I could get a mangrove tree growing right out the middle! The par 38 I'm currently using would do a fine job, but it's redish glow by the window might confuse people as to what "district" they are in.

Dude, NICE

Just use plastic clamps. I've definitely had vinyl tubing pop off before I had clamps, turned my pump into a wave maker in my sump, lucky I was home at the time, or it would have been a fire.

Interested in all this information as well. I have mine connected to the home network, which is very easy to do by following instructions, the programing is the part that confuses me!

+1

Oh, I see that I didn't answer your question, sorry man. I'm running the DC 6000 on my return. I do like that it ramps up and down, even if it loses power, it still slowly cranks down as opposed to a violent stop. Stop on by and check it out if you'd like!

And a sleek web site to boot.

I just try and hit the Lowes out by work in Alexandria. It's still a hike, but it's easier than most of the traffic before and after 9-5 in this area. Thanks, Steve. I actually found the piece that I need, slip on one side, threaded on the top. The majority of my plumbing experience was what you described above. I ended up with a small box of extra fittings and parts that I'm sure will come in handy down the line.